Monday 2 March 2020

Prize Puzzle: Hindi Crossword 7

Holi is round the corner - and we are back with our customary Holi special crossword in Hindi. Kishore and I took upon ourselves a fun setting challenge for this puzzle: all clues as couplets. We had experimented with this format in puzzle 4 and enjoyed the exercise very much. This outing proved to be harder: a few recalcitrant grid fills would not lend themselves to couplet clueing. We realised as we neared the end that we had, quite literally, painted ourselves into a corner. Kishore, with his usual resourcefulness, reassembled portions of the grid and redid the clues. We honed the wordplay over several iterations and finally, here we are, ready with our latest offering.

There is a notable departure from our usual mode of accepting submissions for prize puzzles. The general feedback has been that asking for annotations deters many solvers from sending in their entries. This time, we let annotations be optional. Send them in if you like - we love to hear how you arrived at the answer - but we won't insist upon annotations for considering your puzzle eligible for the draw. This also means that your grid fill must be precise - no misplaced dots and dashes!

Hope you enjoy solving this crossword. Wish you a very happy and colourful Holi!

[Previous Hindi puzzles here: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
Hindi Cryptic Crossword - Prize Puzzle 6

आर-पार

1 थोड़ी मुश्किल है, थोड़ा झेलिये,
और शब्द बताइये एक मेरे लिए (2)

2 आप और मैं अंग्रेज़ी भुगतते हैं,
ये रेल या बस में साथ चलते हैं (5)

5 देसी खाने को जब सीने से ना लगाया
तब आँखों ने क्या किया? (2)

7 गंभीर रॉय, शुरू से
घोष के सर के पीछे पड़े (2)

8 ये हुआ तो शेष,
कुछ हकलाया तो शिशु? (2)

10 लड़की यूँ हिली
कि टहनी मिली (3)

12 गाय के सर पर तिनके का टुकड़ा पड़ा है,
बूझो तो जाने कि उसकी रफ़्तार क्या है? (2)

13 सूजी नहीं! ये होना,
मतलब चले जाना (3)

15 करुणा के लिए हाथ,
कुछ ममता के साथ (3)

17 आपने तकल्लुफ़ बिन,
शुरुआत में रखी संस्कृत लेकिन
जब अंत का अवसर आया
मुझे हरियाणवी से रंगा पाया (3)

20 बनके राजा इंदौर का,
खोया हिस्सा लाहौर का (3)

22 मशहूर शायर अमरोही
की कलाम बड़ी अनोखी (3)

23 नहीं नहीं, लगाना पड़ेगा मानद प्रत्यय
जभी परिवार के वरिष्ठ सदस्य मिल गये (3)

25 एक आँख वाली निगले थोड़ी मिश्री
ताकि वह बन सके एक सुंदर स्त्री (3)

27 बेवक़ूफ़ दफ्तरकर्मिंयों के मुखड़ों को आग लग जाएगी
तब कहीं जाके वो साफ़ बन जाएगी (3)

28 सोने का पर्याय,
जो उल्टा-सीधा बराबर नज़र आये (3)

30 बहस में उलझे कुछ अक्षर
उनको रिहा कर या बर्दाश्त कर (2)

31 एक प्राणी का नाम तुम कहना
जो कूदके बन सकता है वरना...(3)

33 सीता शायद ऐसी थी,
धीरे धीरे बोलती थी,
पंक्ति का पहला अक्षर लेती थी,
और भोली भाली बनती थी (2)

35 मामी का एक हिस्सा और दादी का एक हिस्सा,
दोनों असल मे क्या है, यही है किस्सा (2)

36 इसको पहनोगे आप यदि,
तो दिखेगी एक छोटी नदी (2)

37 पहले-पहल मेजर हरिवंश राय बाहर निकलता,
और बहुत दयालु दिखता (5)

38 कुछ मेघ नाकाम होते हैं,
लेकिन वह ठोस होते हैं (2)

नीचे की ओर

1 मुंशीजी कुछ लफ्ज़ पहले जोड़ के दिखाओ,
कली के लिए एक और शब्द बताओ (3)

2 प्रत्येक सरहद-वासी ऐंठा हुआ है
वह राज़ छुपाए बैठा हुआ है (2)

3 संगीत के सुर सात ही,
मगर सातों में बद्ध अवरोही (4)

4 अरबी की छाल फेंक दो,
छिपा हुआ ख़ुदा देख लो (2)

6 ले कोठरी के भीतर रखना,
फिर इसे निगल जाना (1,2)

7 जो उसकी जान तक ले जाए वर,
बारातियों के बीच मिले वो जानवर (2)

9 समाचार में दिखे समान,
यही है इस संख्या की पहचान (2)

11 जिसको खाने से बात का वजन बढ़ जाता है,
उसका पेट काटने से कम हो जाता है! (3)

14 बहुत अच्छे! जब मिली पहली कमाई
सामान ले जाने का साधन ले आई (3)

16 नसीरुद्दीन शाह की पत्नी को हाथ लगे
बहुमूल्य हीरे जवाहरात के खान मिले (4)

17 तुरंत लाओ नाश्ते के पहले वाले निवाले
तो तुमको एक अलग तरह का उपमा मिले (3)

18 "आज़ाद हिन्द फौज" के नायक
बने अभिनेता जीतेन्द्र दिल से, कुछ हद तक (3)

19 "चलते चलते" तुम याद रखना,
कभी यह लफ्ज़ ना कहना (4)

20 त्यौहार में होगा जिसका दहन,
वो है प्रह्लाद के पिता की बहन (3)

21 गड़बड़ नीरज का किया,
नाम निशा का दिया (3)

24 "गणना न कर" मानो याचना है म्हारी
कल्पत किस्सों में अक्सर होती हूँ इच्छाधारी (3)

26 कुछ हद तक शामिल नहीं
फिर भी यह संगम सही (3)

27 एक-एक चुटकी बेसन, हल्दी, तिल और राई के डालो,
सब जुड़ जाएं तो अच्छा बना लो (4)

28 नैतिक वचनों में निमग्न हैं इस रक्षक के वर्ण
जिसके प्रख्यात भेंटकर्ता हैं दानवीर कर्ण (3)

29 एक रस्सी के अंतिम हिस्से लो
दोनो बांध के खिंची हुई कर दो (2)

31 11 जैसा ही एक और बार,
ये आधे से कम स्वादानुसार (2)

32 चना जोर की चाट जो ना खाए,
उसे सृष्टि कहकर बुलाया जाए (3)

34 गधी! मेले में कुछ ढूंढ ले
जवाब पाओगी हौले हौले (2)

35 नाम को कर डाला रद्दी,
फिर भी मिली प्रसिद्धि (2)


PDF format available here.

Notes On The Crossword

  1. Word lengths are in syllables e.g. each of the words पहला, प्रथम, प्रदान, प्रस्थान will be enumerated as (3).
  2. Complex consonants go into a single cell e.g. वर्ग will be split into two cells, the first with व, the second with र्ग. Similarly, प्रस्थान will be split into three cells, the first with प्र, the second with स्था, the third with न.
  3. In wordplay, the matras may be treated independently of the letters e.g. राम when anagrammed can give मार or मरा.

Solving and Submission Instructions

  1. Send in your completed entries to shuchi [at] crosswordunclued [dot] com, with the subject line "Hindi Cryptic Crossword 7 – Solution", latest by Sunday 8th March 2020.
  2. Entries should be legible and readable in a standard text or image reader (Word, Excel, PNG, etc. all fine). You can hand-write the answers and send a scan if that works for you. Or you could use this solution template.
  3. Solution words should be in Devanagari script. [Services like Google Input Tools or Quillpad can be used for typing in Hindi.]
  4. Spot a theme? Tell us about it in words and mark the themed clue numbers with an asterisk (*).

If you have questions related to solution submission, please post them in the comments section.

The Prize

The winner can choose gift vouchers on Amazon IN/US/UK, worth INR 1000 (or equivalent in USD/GBP).

The solver with the maximum correct answers will win. In case of ties, the winner will be picked by a lucky draw.

The solution to the crossword and the winner's name will be announced in a follow-up post after 9th March 2020.

[Update (10th March 2020): Prize Puzzle: Hindi Crossword 7 - Solution and Winner]

Related Posts:

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    15 comments

    Kishore said...

    And I didn't even know what colour of paint we were using! ;)

    Shuchi said...

    @Kishore: :)

    Lakshmi Vaidyanathan said...

    @Shuchi& Kishore, Thanks for a lovely Cw 😊. I winder how you people fit the words in the grid 🤔 Really tough.

    Lakshmi Vaidyanathan said...

    Wonder*😀 not winder

    Shuchi said...

    @LV: Thank you for your kind feedback about the crossword.

    As for fitting the words in the grid, I just let Kishore work his magic. I haven't really got wind (or wond) of how he does it, I only see the filled grid and say things like "not नूतन again!"

    Lakshmi Vaidyanathan said...

    Lol Nutan his fav it seems 😀

    Kishore said...

    I don't have a magic wand (wind or wond), I just wander around the grid, filling up cells and backtrack if in trouble. Time consuming and sometimes a pain, since I first fill it in Roman letters and them change to Devanagari, only to find a maatra mismatch ot a clash between a soft consonant and hard one. The hard, old fashioned way. No word search software too, so plenty of gazing at the ceiling.

    Kishore said...

    Yes, LV, Nutan is a favourite. There is a connection to her in this grid, if you get what I mean...

    Vasant said...

    Lovely Puzzle. This time I shared the puzzle with my friends in WhatsApp Groups. Hopefully, we should see many submissions.

    Shuchi said...

    @Vasant: Thanks Vasant! Where is your submission?

    Vasant said...

    My submission will be done in the week-end.

    Kishore said...

    Thank you, Vasant. The more the merrier...

    raju umamaheswar said...

    Kishore & shuchi, I am stuck with two last. Sadism to the extreme. My wife is helping me with script and I was surprised that she has caught the bug of cryptic puzzles. We may not be on talking terms after the exit from the torture chamber. Haha !

    Kishore said...

    Bravo, Raju! You have shown what it takes to sustain true love ... towards crosswords. Many thanks for spreading the bug. Let's hope it is an epidemic. And don't worry about being on non-talking terms. That sort of thing has a short shelf-life between kindred souls. Believe it or not, the setters of this puzzle haven't spoken a word to each other during the setting of this puzzle (and any of the earlier ones) ;)

    raju umamaheswar said...

    Dear Kishore,

    Saw the link and went to the site to watch the Wodehouse series. As I am an avid reader of his books, as you know, can you please send my the link in the Daily Motion site to watch all the episodes from BBC ? Much obliged, mate.
    Regards, Raju